Wow, is all I can really say.
Some of you guys really need to take off your Niemi-colored glasses and look at this from a TEAM and LOGICAL perspective.
1) Turco at 1.3M for next season is a STEAL. His puckhandling ALONE is worth that much. Philly offered him almost three for ****'s sake. It says something that a guy like Turco will come here for a discount of more than a million.
2) Turco's age doesn't play into this AT ALL. The guy isn't going to play seventy games for us. He likely won't even have to play FIFTY. Crawford will get a chance this year to play between thirty and forty games, and Turco will be well rested come playoff time. He's also not going to see anywhere NEAR the number of shots he saw last year. His age doesn't fucking matter. We have the best defensive system in the NHL, and, in many people's opinions, the best defensive corps. He will be fine.
3) Turco played more games in 2008-2009 than Niemi has played in HIS ENTIRE CAREER. He has also won a Vezina, is ten times the puck handler Niemi is, and had a better save percentage last year, playing for a Dallas team that sucked ass defensively. Nuff said.
4) Niemi would have been here for ONE YEAR, and we would have gone through this shit ALL OVER AGAIN. Zito is a world class jag-off, and there is no reason to believe Niemi would have signed a cap-friendly contract next season. ESPECIALLY if he put up another great season, which he likely would, playing behind the best defense in the NHL. Zito was asking for four million THIS year for ****'s sake! What would he have demanded next year? You can blame ZITO for this entire debacle.
As far as the Hawks letting him walk as a UFA? Good. That is more of a **** YOU to Zito, than Niemi. By letting him walk, they force Zito to work on contracts with teams AGAIN. If they did a sign and trade, his job was done for a year. By letting him walk, Zito now has to work out contracts with the teams that want his client's services. Maybe the Hawks feel that the rest of the NHL feels the same way they do about Niemi? That he's a good goalie with a lot of potential, but he's simply not worth ~3 mil per season yet. How funny would it be if we see Niemi sign a one year deal at LESS than the 2.75M per season? How funny would it be to see Niemi regress next year, playing behind a team that doesn't jump on his massive rebounds like our EXTREMELY FAST defense does? Zito may have fucked his client in more ways than one with this.
I'm upset to see Niemi go, but I FULLY understand why it had to be done. Swapping Niemi at 2.75M for MARTY TURCO at 1.3M is a fucking no-brainer, and it makes us a better TEAM. Anything Turco gives up to Niemi in the net, he MORE than makes up for with his puck handling. Expect Turco to put up some points this season....
